In the prior art dressing is typically delivered to the lane surface using a bristle-type applicator roll that receives its dressing from wick-like pads or a reciprocating dispensing head. In both cases the dressing is usually initially applied by the pads or dispensing head to an intermediate metal transfer roll which, in turn, engages and transfers dressing to the applicator roll. In some constructions additional smoothing rollers or non-rotating smoothing pads engage the surface of the transfer roll before it transfers dressing to the applicator roll.
The present invention contemplates a simplified delivery system that can eliminate a significant amount of the transfer mechanism used in the prior art. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, dressing from a source such as a moving dispensing head is delivered to a non-rotating brush assembly that, in turn, directly engages the applicator roll and transfers dressing thereto. Preferably, the brush assembly includes at least one strip brush that extends along the length of the applicator roll and has its relatively dense body of bristles interengaging the bristles of the applicator roll. The strip brush is so configured and arranged that when dressing is supplied to the brush, the dressing gravitates along its bristles and onto the bristles of the rotating applicator roll.
Preferably, dressing is supplied to the strip brush by a single dispensing head that reciprocates back and forth across the machine in a known manner. In a preferred form of the invention, a second strip brush spaced circumferentially downstream from the first strip brush with respect to the direction of rotation of the applicator roll also has its bristles directly interengaging the bristles of the applicator roll to assist in distributing the dressing to the applicator roll, but the second or supplemental brush receives no dressing from the dispensing head. The bristles of both brushes are preferably constructed from a synthetic resinous material.
In another aspect of the invention, the non-rotating brush assembly can be used to apply dressing directly to the lane surface, without using an intermediate applicator roll. Another variation is to use the brush assembly to apply dressing to a metal transfer roll, which in turn transfers the dressing to an applicator roll in the usual manner.